Save Me From This Watery Grave
by aloneatlastplease
Summary: Ryan, a mermaid prince flees his home in search of happiness. Ryan/Troy, Troy/Gabriella, Ryan/Kelsi future Kelsi/Tiara Warning: Shameless Crack. Mermaids. Slash. Femslash.
1. fall overboard for you

because **comet80** is a slave driver and i was completely inspired by **miserylovedme**

**Author: **isawayorkiepoo  
**Series Title:** save me from this watery grave  
**Installment Title:** fall overboard for you  
**Pairing:** Ryan Evans/Troy Bolton, (minor Ryan Evans/Kelsi Neilson and Troy Bolton/Gabriella Montez)  
**Genre****:** Crack. Complete, shameless crack. And some romance.  
**Rating:** PG  
**Summary: **Ryan, a mermaid prince flees his home in search of happiness.  
**Warnings:** Fairy-tale plots and mermaids. (mermen?) UN-BETAED  
**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. Disney owns High School Musical and The Little Mermaid (where inspiration is drawn from) as well as **miserylovedme** owns her With The Moon In His Arms series (bandom/Fall Out Boy) that gave me a ton of inspiration.  
**Authors Note:** if it sucks, please don't hunt me down with torches and pitchforks. I'll just have to write shameless smut to make up for the shameless crack. Also, lasquez is not a word. It sounded cool and my medicine was making me drowsy so I stuck with it.

Ryan swam away from the voices he heard. "Proud to announce"... "son Ryan, new Prince of Lasquez"... "Kelsi, your new Princess."

He didn't want it. Any of it. He had been recognized since his birth. _Future Prince. Young Majesty. Sir Ryan _and_ Lord Evans. _How many eight year old fledglings were regarded as _Majesty_? Not many and he was so tired of it.

His sister basked in the recognition. She loved watching the girls turn green with envy at her new coral hair clip or her new fin-ring. ("Real pearls." she'd say, and swim away haughtily)

He never understood why she enjoyed it. What was so fun about never having a spare moment to yourself. There was only so much space in the ocean after all and sooner or later all the good hiding reefs are taken.

Ryan could see the light up ahead. The water was getting colder as he neared the surface and the warm sun was shining. He wished daily that he could just lay out in the sun and play with the kids he saw swimming in the lakes. What a rush it would be to be a normal human child for a day.

Ryan stilled as he saw a boat floating along the surface. It was green and had some illegible letters, blurred from the crashing water surrounding him. Cautiously he swam a bit closer to the boat and peaked his head above the surface.

The boat was small, just big enough for a small boating expedition. It was nothing like those yachts that would come around during the Summer. Ryan could make out the wheel at the bow of the boat and a closed off room with GPS tracking equipment and radars. There was a man sitting at the side of the boat, facing the opposite direction. Red highlights shown off his light brown hair and tan skin glowed in the sunlight.

Moving slowly, Ryan dipped back under and swam around to the other side as to get a look at the boys face. Looking up over the water, Ryan had a clear view. And what a view.

The boy was gorgeous. Bright blue eyes looked out over the water, sparkling with contentment. A serene smile played across his lips, bright white teeth peaking through. He had chiseled cheekbones and side-swept bangs that made him look like a model. Gorgeous.

Ryan gasped a bit at the sight and ducked down immediately as the boy turned his head to look at where the noise came from.

Ryan sunk down a bit, trying to stay still against the currents as the boy leaned over the side, trying to look at what made the sound. He must have seen something as he reached out into the water.

Acting on impulse, Ryan splashed water up into the boys boat and his face. The boy stumbled back, falling out of the boat and into the cold ocean water.

Ryan's eyes widened. Of all the stupid things for him to do, he caused an innocent human boy to fall into his peoples waters. _Stupid, stupid, stupid!  
_  
Ryan swam under the boat to where the boy had fallen but he was nowhere in sight. Any victim of an overboard would be kicking their way to the surface by now. Frantically, Ryan looked left and right, searching for the boy. Swimming a bit lower, his tail brushed something. Ryan looked down and saw the boy, eyes closed, mouth open, sinking lower.

Ryan swam down, reaching out to grab the boy and moved his way to the surface. _Please don't let him be dead_, Ryan pleaded to whatever higher power would listen.

He got the boy above the water, but there was no land nearby. He could probably get them onto the boat, but that would be to dangerous for him. What if he got stuck?

Ryan cursed his heroic side and swam towards the boat. He pushed the boy into the boat and pulled himself up and into it.

With a hand on the boys chest, he pumped it a few times and sealed his lips over the boys, breathing air into his lungs.

After a few moments, the boy coughed, water spewing up out of his lungs and Ryan breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't need 'drowning an innocent human' on his list of screw-ups.

But there was one big screw-up in bright red letters on the list now. 'Pulling myself out of the water' was definitely at the top.

The boy opened his eyes slowly, as if waking from a deep sleep. His eyes widened upon seeing a blond boy hanging over him.

"Wha-wha-what's going on?" The boy stuttered. Ryan stared helplessly at him.

The boy looked down Ryan's body and literally jumped back a foot upon seeing the bright-blue fin taking up the lower portion of his body.

"What? What is this?"

Ryan continued to stare at him silently.

The boy stood up, backing up until his back hit the cabin of the boat. Ryan watched him from his position on the ground.

"What are you?"

Ryan looked out to the sea and then back to the boy who was now running his hands through his hair, tousling it in a way to make him look even more like a model. This was one of the times Ryan was glad that mermaids didn't have the same bodily reactions as humans.

Ryan lifted a hand, pointed it at him and then at the water.

"You... water... what?" The boy asked.

Ryan pushed himself up as much as he could and continued to point back and forth between himself and the ocean.

"You... need to go back in the water?" He asked slowly.

Ryan nodded quickly. His gills were dry and he felt as if he would suffocate if he didn't get in the water soon.

Hesitantly, the boy stepped forward and kneeled down next to Ryan. "Do you need help?"

Ryan nodded again, glancing desperately out to sea.

The boy sighed and put his arms out, and picked Ryan up. It was awkward at best, the fin, while not slimy or slippery, was dry and scratched irritatingly at his upper arm. Kneeling down on the edge of the boat, the boy let go of him, throwing him back into the water.

Ryan was relieved as his gills soaked up the water. He peaked his head out above the water and watched the boy stand up.

"Thanks." The boy said, watching him swim away. Ryan nodded his response and dove backwards, swimming back towards his kingdom.

He would have hell to pay for this. He just knew it.


	2. i've seen your eyes i've seen your smile

******Author:**** isawayorkiepoo**  
******Series Title:**save me from this watery grave  
**Chapter ********Title:**** i've seen your eyes i've seen your smile**  
******Pairing:**Ryan/Troy, (minor Ryan/Kelsi and Troy/Gabriella)  
******Genre:**Crack. Complete, shameless crack. And some romance.  
******Rating:**PG  
******Summary: **Ryan, a mermaid prince flees his home in search of happiness.  
******Warnings:**Fairy-tale plots and mermaids. (mermen?) UN-BETAED  
******Disclaimer:**I own nothing. Disney owns High School Musical and The Little Mermaid (where inspiration is drawn from) as well asowns her series that gave me a ton of inspiration.  
******Authors Note:**if it sucks, please don't hunt me down with torches and pitchforks. I'll just have to write shameless smut to make up for the shameless crack.

Ryan swam as fast as possible to the bottom of the ocean, closer to the warm waters of his people. His heart was beating overtime, fear and anger at himself nearly giving him a panic attack.

He'd just revealed himself to a human and for what? So he wouldn't drown? Fishermen or scuba swimmers drowned in their waters all the time. It was scary to be swimming along one day and then see a body slowly sinking, but it was normal in their area.

So why did this one human matter so much?

___Because he's not like the others__, _his traitorous mind whispered to him. Ryan wished he could forget it ever happened and just swim away. Away from his responsibilities as Prince and away from that blue eyed boy who had caught his attention.

But he couldn't. He had a job to do, to marry the Diondra Princess and give his kingdom a new set of heirs to the thrown. He had to protect his people and serve them. It was all he'd ever known and it's all he'll ever have.

Ryan came up to one of the rocky pillars that marked the boundaries of his kingdom. Down below mermen and mermaids were surrounding his father as he continued his speech. He'd been gone for nearly an hour and they didn't even notice. Ryan shook his head and swam closer in, going towards his sister who floated at the front of the crowd.

"Where'd you go?" Sharpay whispered. "I had to cover for you."

Ryan fidgeted with his coral bracelet, shooting a nervous glance to the surface. "I had to get some fresh water."

Sharpay gave a mock gasp. "We have the freshest water in all the sea and don't you forget it!" Ryan chuckled at her joke and leaned his head on her shoulder. "Two more weeks and my baby brother gets to lead our kingdom. You excited?"

Ryan scoffed and shook his head. Sharpay gave him a sympathetic smile and rubbed his arm. "I know you don't want to get married, but we both know that you'll end up having flings with half the male population and Kelsi won't be able to even handle _kissing_ you. You'll be fine."

This was what he loved about his sister. She could be so rude and cruel to the other mermaids, but she was always there for him.

He smiled and focused his attention on his father who seemed to be wrapping up his announcement.

"So please come out and join us as we celebrate this wonderful day for my son and his kingdom." The crowd hollered and waved their fins, excitement tangible through the deep water.

After a bit more cheering and at least half the crowd shook Ryan's hand, offering their congratulations on his engagement, their father swam up to them.

"Hello father." Both twins said in unison.

"Hello children. Wonderful turnout today, yes?"

Ryan and Sharpay nodded, both of them wishing to get away for a bit.

"Yes father," Ryan smiled sweetly. "it was nice to see everyone come out to see us today. But I was wondering if I could speak with my sister for a moment. I have some plans on how to rework housing and I thought it best to discuss with her first."

His father smiled proudly at his son, clearly happy that he was taking such a liking to the thrown. "Well then, I shall be on my way. Please be home in time for dinner."

"Yes father." Both twins repeated again and swim away from him.

Once they were out of sight, hidden in a reef no one ever goes near, Ryan turned to his sister, panic clear on his face. "What's wrong Ry?"

He flitted his eyes around, trying to focus on anything but her concerned gaze. "I may have done something stupid."

"Like 'hooked up with the Squire' bad, or 'floated mom's favorite vase to the surface' bad?"

Ryan looked down and then back up at his sister. "Worse. Like 'there will most likely be divers coming to look for signs of us' bad."

"Oh God. This is worse than the time you stole dad's Trifork and nearly de-tailed the kitchen servants."

Ryan nodded quickly, his fidgeting becoming worse. "I know. I didn't mean for it to happen but.. he was drowning and I couldn't just float there when I was the reason he was in the water to begin with."

Sharpay looked at him, eyes narrowed as she caught on to the last part. "Wait, you did what?"

Oh god. Goodbye comforting, understanding sister, hello dictator destined to rule their seas. "I was looking at him from underwater and he leaned down so I panicked. I splashed him and he fell backwards out of his boat. How could I not help him?"

Sharpay shook her head quickly, looking to the surface in fear. It's not as if anyone could actually find them, but young mermaids were still naïve and left toys and jewelery floating around and they weren't like human toys. One sight of a coral rattle or a seaweed blanket and there would be submarines and scuba tanks fishing them out in no time.

No diver could make it this deep though. The waters they lived in were nearly 100 degrees in the coolest of weather, no human could handle it.

"What do I do?" Ryan cried, desperate. He couldn't handle it if he had been the one to put his kingdom in danger. Not just because his stupid conscious decided to stop in for a visit and _hey, that guy's gonna drown, might wanna save him._

"You're going to go back. You're going to go back to wherever you were tomorrow and see if he's there. If he plans on doing anything he'll wait for a second sighting and then call in the troops. Stay out of sight and hope he doesn't show up again."

Ryan nodded, his head ringing. There were plenty of mistakes, as a Prince that he could make, but this could cost his people their lives.

That night Ryan floated around around in his private chambers. Their home was mainly built off of a reef, molded and carved and shaped into an entire mansion. His room was easily smaller than his father's and mother's and still much smaller than Sharpay's but it was simple and fit him well.

He hardly slept even under the best of circumstances, too many plans of escape or sad wishes of the surface flooding his mind. He loved his life—how many mermaids or mermen could say they could live in a mansion, rule a kingdom or be the one to unite two seas? But sometimes he just felt like something was missing. He wasn't naïve and he didn't believe that he could ever have anything other than what's been given to him, but maybe there was something he had to _go_ after. Something to fight for and work hard at.

He laid himself gently on the seaweed cot in his room and tried to drift off. Every time he got into a light sleep, dreams of a life he missed, shocks of blue would claim his thoughts. Tan skin and shiny golden hair.

He smiled a bit as a small clip of a dream played on the backs of his eyelids. He was walking on the sand, standing next to a tall figure. He'd had that dream forever, and it's never changed. His dream self will smile and laugh at something the figure says and when he reaches out to take it's hand, the figure disappears and he wakes up in a fit of useless tears, being lost to the ocean.

This time the figure just gripped his hand back, a small white smile on it's face before he shook awake, _him_ running through his head like a broken record.


	3. it's like a drug, addictive and deadly

**Author:** _isawayorkiepoo_**  
Title: **save me from this watery grave**  
Chapter Title: **it's like a drug. addictive and deadly.**  
Pairing: **Ryan Evans/Troy Bolton, (minor Ryan Evans/Kelsi Neilson and Troy Bolton/Gabriella Montez)**  
Genre: **Crack. Complete, shameless crack.**  
Rating: PG****  
Summary: **Ryan, a mermaid prince flees his home in search of happiness.**  
Warnings: **Fairy-tale plots and mermaids. (mermen?)**  
Disclaimer: **I own nothing. Disney owns High School Musical and The Little Mermaid (where inspiration is drawn from) as well as **miserylovedme** owns her The Moon In His Arms series that gave me a ton of inspiration.  
**Authors Note: **if it sucks, please don't hunt me down with torches and pitchforks. I'll just have to write shameless smut to make up for the shameless crack.

Ryan and Sharpay hid behind the farthest pillar from their kingdom, glancing around warily. Sharpay had thought she'd seen someone trailing them but it seemed to be clear now.

"We good?" Ryan whispered.

"Yep. Now go before daddy realizes you aren't actually visiting the elderly home for charity service." She smiled gently before pushing him away, towards the surface. "Tell me if you see him."

Ryan nodded and swam quickly to the surface.

It wasn't hard to navigate the waters. He'd been swimming through them since he was a baby, barely able to talk but able to lead any of his friends to the Mexican border and back without getting lost once.

Once he was able to see the surface, he began looking around frantically. It _was_ this area he'd saved the boy, right?

He swam in a bit closer to the coast, making sure to stay far enough under that he wouldn't be seen.

There was a dock fairly close to where he was swimming as well as a boat pulling out.

Ryan's brow furrowed when he recognized the light blue letters written on the side. It was the boat of the boy from the previous day.

Hesitantly, Ryan watched the boat start up and start sailing and started swimming after it.

Ryan's brain was screaming at him to just go back to Sharpay. The boy was returning, that was his mission, to find out if he would be coming back and to find if he was bringing crews to scour his waters. It was _not_ his job to follow him to the ends of the sea.

However, Ryan's fin seemed to have other ideas and kept propelling him through the waters, closer to the demise of his kingdom and closer to the beautiful boy that captured his attention.

The boat didn't travel out that far, just far enough that it wasn't visible from land.

An anchor was dropped overboard, splashed into the water, nearly hit Ryan and then the boat stopped. Ryan swam close to the boat and gripped the ladder on the side and pulled himself a bit above the surface.

Voices drifted to him from on board and he clung to the side of the boat desperately. Maybe there _were_ crews on board.

"Why are we out here again?" A deep voice spoke sounding very annoyed. And... that wasn't the same voice that had spoken to him the previous day.

"I thought I saw something yesterday. I just wanted to check it out." There it was. The voice brought images to Ryan's head. The confused stare from bright blue eyes and a gentle voice asking if he needed help. Ryan shuddered, remembering the boy picking him up.

"You mean your fiance's complaining again and you wanted to get far far away?" a silence. "That's what I thought."

"Man, it's not like that. You know the stories. Sea monsters, freaky fish hybrids living in these waters. If I _did_ see something, don't you think I should check it out?"

"Fine. We'll check it out and then I can explain to your girl why I stole you away again."

"It's because you love me." Ryan chuckled a bit at that.

"What was that?" The first voice spoke.

The boat rocked a bit against Ryan as if someone was moving around.

"I don't know. You check that side."

Ryan sunk down a bit, staying just deep enough to get a good look out of the water.

A curly haired boy poked his head over the side, brown eyes widening. "Dude!" he cried.

"Oh no." Ryan whispered to himself, lowering himself a bit more. 5 feet under should be enough to cover him, right?

Within a few seconds, another head popped over the side, blue eyes shining even through the water.

Blurry as the image was, Ryan could make out the boy shaking his head and pulling his friend back.

Ryan fled quickly, back to his kingdom, blue shining behind his eyelids.

"So, what happened?" Sharpay urged, the two of them swimming to his chambers.

"I saw him. No crews or anything and I left."

Sharpay looked at him critically, eyes narrowing before smiling and putting a hand on his shoulder. "Alright Ry. If that's all, I'll see you tomorrow morning." She kissed his cheek briefly and then swam off.

"'Night!" Ryan called down the hall.

Ryan entered his room, closing the door slowly. His whole body was weary, fin aching from the his speedy retreat, mind blurring and leaving memories of the day jumbled.

That night he didn't sleep at all, a burn behind his eyes and arms wrapped shakily around his body.

The morning approached slowly, the small light filtered through the waves appearing even slower than it would on land. When he could see his walls clear enough, he left his room, swimming a few doors down to the guest bedroom that housed his fiance.

Ryan knocked softly before entering. The girl was slumbering quietly on her seaweed cot, short brown hair floating around her face delicately.

Ryan smiled as he closed the door. He liked Kelsi. He really did, she was sweet and kind and much smarter than she should be, always seeing through anything he tried. He had a lot of respect for her since she was in pretty much the same position. Ryan knew for a fact she was _not_ attracted to him at all.

She came from a royal family across the ocean from a small lake near South Africa named Diondra. Her family was quite large, 6 sisters and 3 brothers. As Prince of Lasquez, he got choice of any of the Neilson sisters.

Of course, he found the prospect of marrying Kelsi, a girl with no attraction for _any_ boy, much better than marrying the Andrea (pronounced "Aun-dray-a" as the girl repeatedly pounded into his head) girl who was always making cow eyes at him, and flouncing her huge, nearly uncovered breasts in his face.

Yes, Kelsi was a nice choice.

Ryan knelt down to her and tapped her shoulder. She turned over drowsily, smiling when she saw his face. "Hey Ry."

"Hey, we're going to the orphanage today. Dad says it'll be good for our 'image'." Kelsi rolled her eyes gently, already sitting up and yawning.

"Fine, I'll be there."

Ryan smiled and rubbed her shoulder, then swam out the door.

The day doing interviews and talking to the children consisted of Ryan getting elbowed for singing "the sun will come out.. tomorrow" over and over under his breath, Kelsi tearing up—only noticeable due to her red eyes and forced smile—at the many children left on their own and many improv speeches.

If there was one thing that made underwater life hard was the amount of children left homeless. There were storms that separated fledglings from their parents. Then there were fishing nets that adults would get caught in and die of blood loss, even if they did make it back to their home.

It broke Ryan's heart to see children looking up at him through sad eyes. There was a small blonde girl that clung to his side, with bright hazel eyes and a huge smile that he just wanted to shrink down and carry around with him everywhere.

As they were leaving, Kelsi and Ryan both agreed that they wouldn't mind adopting a kid or two from the orphanage.

"Hey Kels, I'm going to go for a swim. You'll be fine getting back home on your own, yeah?"

Kelsi nodded, pecking him on the cheek before swimming off.

Ryan had other priorities though.

Moving as fast as possible on zero sleep, Ryan swam to the surface. Maybe luck, or maybe the boy was just very curious, the boat was there again, light blue words flashing at him.

He grabbed onto the ladder again and pulled himself above the surface. It sounded quiet, no voices this time. He could hear the blood pounding in his ear, Sharpay's voice telling him _dont' do it! don't do it!_ Cautiously, he grabbed the side of the boat and lifted himself up to see above it.

The boy was staring at him, a small smile on his otherwise shocked face. "Hi."

Ryan lifted his head a bit over the top and smiled.


End file.
